CMAs

[jordanoatsvall]

I'm new here and this is my first post on here. I am an LPN male 27 and I've worked as an LPN now for seven years. I work the night shift in a LTC facility that is divided into sections. The section I work on is the skilled nursing unit and the other section is residential care unit AKA the assisted living unit. On the skilled unit we have 32 patients which fills every bed on the unit and the residential care unit has about 30 patients as well. I am the only licensed nurse there at night along with 2 CNAs with me on skilled and RCF has a CNA and CMA nobody else. If there are any emergencies on RCF then the CMA will call me over but other than that the CMA is pretty much in charge over there at night. What is the legal scope of practice for a CMA what can they do and what can they not do? What training do they receive to become a CMA? This is the first place I've worked that has had CMAs and I really don't feel comfortable with some of the things they do. They of course administer the 6am medications and any prn and pain medication during the night check vital signs check patients blood sugars and administer insulin to patients chart on patients who are on antibiotics and fall incident follow up and all other patient charting etc...if a patient falls on them during our shift they assess the patient and complete all required paper work and incident reports after calling me over to assess the patient as well of course and do any treatments. I've even heard a couple of the cmas refer to the cnas working RCF with them as "their aide" as if they were over the cna like their charge nurse. Sorry this post was too long

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

What training do they receive to become a CMA?

I assume you are referring to certified medication aides (CMAs), because CMA also stands for certified medical assistant.

The training depends on the regulations of the state in which they work. I am in Texas, where a CMA must have experience as a CNA and complete several months worth of training.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

If you are new to the idea if a med-aide or med- tech, their legal scope may surprise you. I'll tell you like an experienced nurse who was an admin for a retirement community told me, "my med-techs do almost the same things as LVNs(LPNs)."

They pass meds incl narcs, call doctors, write narrative notes, do first aide, and yes they are in charge of supervising caregivers. They take vitals, also.

In my state they can't give injections or assess or diagnose.

They go through a 16 hour training and then shadow a med-aide for 2-5 days. No experience is required.

Med-aides are very common in assisted living / non-medical residential care because the law allows their use and, obviously, they get paid less than a nurse. (10-11 per hour versus 19-26 per hour for an Lvn/lpn)